Protest with political overtones criticizes Bay County sheriff for firing veteran

BAY CITY, MI — A
small protest billed as a show of support for veterans rights became a political mudslinging match
Thursday morning in front of the Bay County Law Enforcement Center.

A trio of protestors with florescent picket signs sporting
slogans such as "Sheriff Miller Fired a Vet" and "Hire a Vet Not Fire a Vet" gathered
in front of the police station, 503 Third.

Protest organizer Richard Heinz, a veteran and former Bay
County Sheriff's deputy, said the demonstration was in response to the
department's termination of former Deputy Jason Holsapple on March 9.

Holsapple, who did not attend the protest, claims in an ongoing lawsuit against the county and Sheriff John Miller that he was fired for
expressing interest in Robert "Bobby" Lee's campaign, Miller's opponent in next week's
Democratic primary race for county sheriff. Holsapple, a former Marine, claims Miller
violated the Persons with Disability Civil Rights Act and defamed his character.

At Thursday's protest, Heinz accused Miller of intimidating deputies to discourage them from supporting other candidates.

"His nickname here by the troops is "The Emperor,'" Heinz
said. "Most of them have had to put up political signs. They're afraid to talk to anyone right now after he fired Jason Holsapple."

After seeing the protestors in front of the law enforcement
center, Miller and Capt. Troy A. Stewart invited members of the media inside to discuss his side of the issue.

Bay County Sheriff John E. Miller

Bound by a gag order, Miller could not discuss the specifics
of Holsapple's lawsuit, but he said the claims against him were false and "a cheap
political trick."

"This all boils down to disgruntled employees that were let
go for various reasons," he said.

Heinz said he retired from the department in March 2003 after more
than 25 years of service. He worked as a jail officer and was attacked by an
inmate, sustaining an injury to his hand that he said required four surgeries. He said he had to battle the department to get coverage for
his medical bills.

Heinz said the protest was not politically motivated and he
did not hold it to support any particular candidate, but rather to support
veteran rights and to have openness about Holsapple's dismissal.

"All we want is fairness and clarity," he said. "Give the
man his hearing, just give it to him. If you're that adamant and you've got
concrete evidence to fire him, let's get it out in the open — a little
transparency."

For his part, Miller's political rival, Robert Lee, said Heinz is not on his campaign staff but he has assisted at campaign events in recent weeks, including handing out candy at fairs. Lee said he had nothing to do with Thursday's protest.

However, Lee included information about Holsapple's termination and
lawsuit against the sheriff in a recent piece of campaign literature, and he reiterated Heinz's concerns that Holsaspple was fired for his political interests. Lee said he has met with Holsapple.

"I don't even know if it was even support, (Holsapple) just
mentioned to one of the deputies that he liked some of the ideas that I had," Lee said. "I know the way that (Miller) is, if you say anything it doesn't
have to be derogatory it just has to be different from his thought process but
he'll have a knee-jerk reaction."

Jason Holsapple

Miller said Holsapple was employed by the department
for eight months at the time of his termination and was still in his probationary period. Miller said
Holsapple signed a contract to work as an at-will employee and part of the contract
stated that during the probationary period, Holsapple could be dismissed
without reason.

Miller declined to comment as to
why Holsapple was fired, per the restrictions of the gag order.

As word of the protest spread, some other sheriff's offiicials called MLive.com and The Bay City Times to address Holsapple's lawsuit claims. The officers said they were concerned the sheriff is not able to defend himself to the public
because of the gag order.

Lt. Troy Cunningham, Holsapple's commanding officer, said
Holsapple was dismissed for insubordination and conduct detrimental to the Sheriff's Office.

Cunningham said complaints against Holsapple included claims
that he spoke negatively about coworkers and superiors behind their backs, that
his conduct elicited complaints from the community and his overall attitude was
harmful to the department as a whole.

"We had a bad employee, he happened to have been in the
military," Cunningham said.